Intellectual Obesity - 5 Symptoms

Thank you for your responses to the 1st Article posted on July 16, 2021. Your responses clearly showed that Intellectual Obesity resonated with you. Maybe you would have seen evidence of this in your workplace or sometimes even in your personal network.

The purpose of that article was to introduce the concept of Intellectual Obesity. In this article, I will try to elucidate the symptoms of Intellectual Obesity (IO).

Physical Obesity is so easy to see. It just takes one look from an observer to see whether a person is physically obese or not. The brain of the observer takes all the obvious data points like puffy face, double chin, protruding belly, the overall shape of the body, the gait (yes, all these data points are present in me) knits a coherent picture in our brains. Though there is a scale for Physical Obesity, One actually does not need to calculate the BMI to see whether a person is physically obese or not.

The symptoms of IO are more difficult to diagnose. They are not very obvious at the 1st glance. They need to be observed over a period of time. Moreover, only 1 or 2 symptoms in isolation may result in an erroneous observation

Quite like the blind men who had different interpretations of an elephant

Based on my professional experience both in service and as a consultant, I believe that there are 5 symptoms that may indicate that an individual may suffer from some degree of IO.

So without further ado lets go into those symptoms. And yes, these symptoms are not in any order of preference.

1. Embracing Complexity: All those of you who have watched the BBC Sitcom Yes Minister, & Yes Prime Minister would be familiar with the character of Sir Humphrey Appleby – who plays the role of a bureaucrat as part of the Minister (Jim Hacker’s) Team. His skill in making a simple sentence complex so as to confuse the hapless Minister is legendary. The confusion leads to lack of a decision and therefore maintenance of status quo, which is exactly what Sir Humphrey wants. In the corporate world, there are people who thrive on making things complex. The more complex- the better. It is not that all complexity is related to IO. Complexity where the intent is more to impress and confuse rather than drive action is the one that needs to be watched out for.

2. 'Jargonisation': This is actually a subset of complexity but more easier to spot. We consultants sometimes are some of the biggest proponents of Jargonisation. After all, the belief that using jargon and the latest buzzwords will impress prospects may drive us to do a jargon dump in our business communication. Again, I am not saying that using Jargon is bad. It is with what intent. Jason Fried, the author of the brilliant book Rework, says, “Jargon is insecurity”. Insecurity and action are not generally compatible. And therefore a pattern of using Jargon may be one of the symptoms of IO.

3. Name-Dropping: This can be a very subtle symptom of IO. You may have come across some people who in their dialogues casually drop names of famous books or publications – Something like ‘Oh yes, just the other day I was reading this article in the HBR, Or the incredulous look they give when you plead ignorance on not having purchased the latest management book in the market. Name-dropping is not only restricted to the sphere of books, it also gets reflected in their conversation such as, when they had a cup of coffee with Jeff (Bezos). Or how Richard (Branson) called them up to ask their advice on something. Yes, I know I am exaggerating a little here but your get the idea, right?

4. Certification Acquisition Spree (CAS) – CAS is a not so subtle symptom. Covid saw a surge of people opting for certifications. I totally agree this was commendable as it helped many a people to cope with the disruption in all aspects of their lives.

But then again it comes back to intent. Is the intent driven by mainly to acquire certificates and share on networking sites? Is there a pattern in the area of certifications chosen? And lastly and most importantly, how much of the knowledge acquired through those certification courses has one able to apply? 

I myself have been guilty of the last. I enrolled for a program on a topic of my interest fro a prestigious international university. I loved the course and there was huge amount of learning. But when I check to the extent of which I could apply that learning till date, I realize that the course was an expensive contribution to my intellectual obesity. (Note to myself – I need to apply that in the next 3 months).

5.What’s New Syndrome (WNS) – This is again a tricky symptom. And it closely runs with ‘I know it all’ (IKIA). WNS is quite common in pharma marketing. Where pharma marketers generally being under pressure to be innovative are in the look out for the latest thing in the marketing world. Or they may be driven by FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Whatever be the driver, it’s always good to be keep oneself updated and evaluate what is needed or not needed for a situation. The spectre of IO comes when proficiency in fundamental but vital skills is ignored in the search for something new. The new knowledge has to be built on the bedrock of those vital but fundamental skills. When the constant search of acquisition of ‘what’s new’ over shadows application and honing of fundamental skills – The Result is IO.

As I mentioned before, it is dangerous to label someone with IO based on a spot observation of 1-2 symptoms. One needs to observe these symptoms over a period of time in order to arrive at a conclusion that whether a person is suffering from a certain degree of IO.

And before we look at others, let us candidly reflect within to see whether or not we are at risk of IO or have some degree of IO in us.

I want to end this article with a transcript of a dialogue from the BBC Series, Yes Minister.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: "Minister, I have something to say to you which you may not like to hear."

James Hacker: "Why should today be any different?"

Sir Humphrey Appleby: "Minister, the traditional allocation of executive responsibilities has always been so determined as to liberate the ministerial incumbent from the administrative minutiae by devolving the managerial functions to those whose experience and qualifications have better formed them for the performance of such humble offices, thereby releasing their political overlords for the more onerous duties and profound deliberations which are the inevitable concomitant of their exalted position."

Happy Deciphering!

PS.

The 3rd and the last article on IO will be on its consequences.

For those who missed the 1st Article on IO

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/intellectual-obesity-you-risk-dr-vikram-a-munshi-/

Image Credits

https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/b/business_language.asp

https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/n/name_dropping.asp

https://dev.to/baselakasha/you-have-too-many-certificates-gkj

https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/ignoring